Georgian Aviation Agency Pledges ‘Full Compliance’ Amid New U.S. Sanctions on Iranian Airlines

Georgia’s Civil Aviation Agency (GCAA), the state regulatory body for civil aviation, said on September 10 that Georgia will act “in full compliance with the international sanctions regime,” two days after the United States announced new sanctions against Iranian airlines, some of which operate flights to Georgia. “Since the expanded sanctions list announced by the U. S. State Department includes airlines that currently operate air travel between Georgia and Iran, the Georgian side, as in other cases, will act now as well in full compliance with the international sanctions regime,” GCAA said. On September 8, the U. S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 36 targets, including 27 Iranian airlines, “for supporting Iran’s aviation sector, which the regime uses to move weapons, personnel, and illicit cargo.

” Among the Iranian airlines sanctioned by OFAC are Qeshm Air, Varesh Airlines, Sepehran Airlines, Fly Kish Airlines, Taban Airlines and AVA Airlines, which operate flights to Tbilisi and Batumi, according to RFE/RL’s Georgian Service. According to RFE/RL, a day after the sanctions were announced, Sepehran Airlines, one of the sanctioned carriers, operated a flight from Tehran to Tbilisi, with the aircraft landing at 11:51 on September 9. “Georgia actively upholds and ensures compliance with sanctions imposed by our international partners,” the GCAA said in its September 10 statement. “This also applies to the aviation sector. ” The agency said that in the process of admitting foreign airlines to the Georgian aviation market, Georgia is “guided by national legislation, the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and bilateral or multilateral international agreements. ” It noted that while making decisions,…